Psalm 34:18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

I left off yesterday with a very pertinent question, one that is not easily answered. How does belief go from the mind to the heart? I would be fooling myself if I thought that I could answer this for you on my own. We will need the help of the Holy Spirit.

In the parable of the seed sower the soil that receives the Word with understanding and takes root is a soil that is prepared to receive the Word. This is comparable to the tilling of the soil prior to the planting of seeds. The ground has to be broken. This is only the first part of psalm 34:18, He is nigh, meaning near. The saving however is not of the broken heart, it is of the contrite spirit. This is where many of us get lost and confused in the meaning.

Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:

Understanding is compounded when you add this verse. That broken stony heart is transformed into a heart of flesh. Here is where the Holy Spirit needs to lend us revelatory understanding.

The following is just a partial definition of flesh from Vine’s Expository Dictionary: Rom 7:5; 8:8,9; (h) “the seat of sin in man” (but this is not the same thing as in the body), 2 Peter 2:18, 1 John 2:16; (i) “the lower and temporary element in the Christian,” 2 Cr 7:1, Eph 6:5, Hbr 9:13; (l) by metonymy, “the outward and seeming,” as contrasted with the spirit, “the inward and real”.

Once you have received Jesus Christ into your heart, and it becomes flesh, then that same descriptive element of flesh “the seat of sin in man” has been transformed because Christ dealt with sin once and for all time. We are left with flesh but the inward and real has to accept that sin is no longer an issue. In Christ, we can accept and belief that our new creation has a new heart of flesh which is now “the seat of Christ in man”. Christ having replaced sin in our hearts and now rules and reigns there.

Which leaves us with the nearness but not the contrite spirit, which is the second part of the issue.

Luke 8:13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

Allow me for a moment to point out some vital issues on belief as explained here in the telling of the parable of the sower. They received the Word with joy, and for a time believed.

How many of us that call ourselves Christians believe and show absolutely no signs for the effects of belief? For some to say “I believe” is all they have, empty shallow words, of no import nor effect. We see absolutely no fruit of the spirit in their lives. What are we to do?

Luke 13:8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

The one interceding on behalf of the fruitless tree is the vine dresser, a pastor if you will see it that way. Yet are we not all ministers of the Word? The issue here is to get to the root of the matter and provide an atmosphere and materials for growth. They need to be exposed to the truth without judgment nor be cast aside.

Perhaps their understanding is the problem. Perhaps the fact that they received the word with joy is what they believe in, that the feeling is their sign. Feelings are fickled and soon fade away. They may even desire to recreate the feeling of joy, to manufacture it, like the leave of that tree which bears no fruit but shows signs of growth. After all they do have leaves. Just no fruit.

Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

If they will do a heartfelt and honest examination perhaps they will realize they did not receive the Word in their hearts. But how does one receive a word into the heart when words are heard with the ear and understood by the mind? How does it go from the mind to the heart?

That is another matter.